While Labour Burns Bright…

This weekend, TEPCO is going to try and begin the process of removing spent fuel rods from a cooling pond at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4. The fuel rods are about the thickness of a human thumb and 15 feet long. There are 1533 of them and they’re sitting 100 feet in the air.

Normally these fuel rods would be removed from the containment pool using computers due to the very small margins of error allowed when maneuvering them. And normally the containment pool would be free of debris. And normally, the racks that hold the rods wouldn’t be buckled. And normally, the building wouldn’t be sagging due to subsidence.

But ‘normal’ fled Fukushima quite some time back.

The whole affair of the cooling pool at Unit 4 has been likened to a packet of tailor made cigarettes that has been crumpled – with the idea being to extract the cigarettes without breaking any. If a fuel rod snaps, the Fukishima site would have to be evacuated while the snapped rod vented radioactive gases into the air. And if one contacted the air, then the zirconium alloy coating would spontaneously combust. And since water reacts with burning zirconium and all of the fuel rods are housed in water, it’s well within the realms of possibility that an unquenchable fire feeding off the radioactive fuel rods could spark at Fukushima. And it would simply burn for the weeks, months or years it would take to exhaust itself, releasing (approx) 13000 Hiroshima’s worth of radioactive poison to spread around the Northern Hemisphere.

As a side note, I lived in Northern Europe when Cherobyl spread radioactive poison throughout Europe. And I remember the instructions to remain inside if it was raining. And I remember that all dairy and fresh veg was off the menu. And I’m aware that to this day there are ‘hot spots’ from Wales to Germany and elsewhere that mean no produce from those areas can be consumed.

And the potential radiation poisoning from Fukushima is magnitudes worse than Chernobyl. Many, many millions of people and agricultural areas ranging across the whole of Asia, Europe and N. America will be severely affected if operations at Unit 4 go awry. And any wise person with the means, will probably seek to flee the Northern Hemisphere if unit 4 ‘goes down’. It’s that serious.

Here’s the thing. Given the seriousness of the situation, I just cannot get my head around the fact that the job of removing those fuel rods has been left up to TEPCO; not just because TEPCO are an operating company as opposed to an engineering company, but because it has fucked up and lied at every turn. It’s akin to not calling in a plumber and relying on a toilet cleaner – one who is insisting that the shit and the piss spreading over the floor is nothing a quick mop can’t fix – to repair a broken and leaking toilet.

Anyway. Putting aside the fact that 100% of bluefin tuna tested 18 months ago off the west coast of the US were found to be contaminated with bio-accumulating Cesium 134 and 137 from Fukishima. And putting aside the fact that you can still buy fish and seaweed in New Zealand from Japan and that none of it is being tested for poisoning. And putting aside any suspicions I might have over the likelihood that more recent Japanese second hand car imports will be harbouring radioactive particles in their air conditioning filters. Putting all that as well as the three ‘lost’ nuclear reactor cores, the catalogue of fuck-ups and cover ups (eg, dumping contaminated materials into Tokyo Bay or mixing it with uncontaminated material and then burning it in normal industrial incinerators), the virtual news blackout, the inadequate leaking tanks, the 300 odd tonnes of contaminated water flowing into the Pacific every day, the 11000 other onsite fuel rods which, along with the three ‘lost’ cores would have to be abandoned if things went wrong. Putting it all aside so I can finish on a positive note…here are the comforting words of TEPCO spokesperson, Yoshimi Hitosugi from an ABC news report.

We’re going to transfer the fuel into containers while it’s under water. Then we’ll use a crane to remove the containers and take them to a new pool… We believe it’s not dangerous, the reactor building has been reinforced and is structurally sound. We don’t believe there’ll be any accidents.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I feel a whole lot better knowing that it’s just a case of slapping some shit into new containers and hoiking everything the fuck out of there.

In fact, I’m so relieved that I recommend that you don’t peruse any of the links provided or any of the additional links they contain.

As you were.

Share this:

Related

47 comments on “While Labour Burns Bright…”

When Fukishima happened I considered it a world altering event – this report and everything that’s happened since that day have not changed my thinking. I don’t trust any ‘official’ words on this and I sadly think we should prepare for the worst scenario – whether we hear about it or not.

Fearmongering and bad science. Chernobyl remains far worse than Fukushima will ever be. As for the contamination of tuna – the measurement was 3% higher than normal background radiation – which is roughly the equivalent exposure of hugging someone or eating a banana. You are actually getting a bigger dose of radiation from your computer as you type.

On bananas. (Which, incidentally was contained in one of the links you fucking lazy moron)

Arnie Gundersen: The one that gets me and it came up in the meeting last night was the radioactive banana. You know we all have potassium and our body is in equilibrium with that potassium. Some of it is radioactive, some of it is not radioactive. So if you take potassium in, you are going to excrete potassium out because you are already in equilibrium with that potassium. And I cannot understand how we can compare the dose of a banana to flying on a plane or working at Fukushima.

Marco Kaltofen: What it comes down to is radiation comes in different flavors. Some radiation does less damage than others. We have what is called a quality factor for radiation, where we say flat out, the amount of health damage that you do, is related to the form of the radiation. So that this type of radiation might be 20 times more hazardous than that type of radiation. That is something that is happening with the banana. All radiation is not alike and to imply that it is, is probably oversimplifying, oversimplifying to the point where people fail to take steps they could to improve their health.

The radiation dumped by Fukushima into the environment has exceeded that of the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe, so we may stop calling it the second worst nuclear power disaster in history. Total atmospheric releases from Fukushima so far are between 5.6 and 8.1 times that of Chernobyl, according to the 2013 World Nuclear Industry Status Report.

Are we working at Fukushima you fucking moron? Probably flying is a better comparison – it is still not the end of the world despite what anti-nuclear proponents would like everyone to believe. It is interesting that the only contamination we have so far detected away from Fukushima is caesium, and yet at least one of those articles decides to promote the dangers of plutonium particles. No plutonium has breached.
The WNISR is actually compiled by a small indepenent organisation, just in case you thought it was compiled by someone like the UN or the AEC.
If you actually bothered to follow up the original sources of that Counterbunch article, you would know what else Prof. Ken Buesseler of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution says about Fukushima’s caesium: “Because of the dilution that occurs even a short distance from Fukushima, we do not have a concern about the levels of cesium and other radionuclides in fish off the West Coast of the U.S.” http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?cid=94989&pid=83397&tid=3622

To repeat. Total atmospheric releases from Fukushima so far are between 5.6 and 8.1 times that of Chernobyl, according to the 2013 World Nuclear Industry Status Report. (emphasis added this time)

Do you have a reliable source to counter that claim? Or any reputable source that claims (your words) Chernobyl remains far worse than Fukushima will ever be

As for Bueseler, you appear to be suggesting he’s being conservative. I’d agree. Cesium bio-accumulates in tissue and dilution is by no means uniform, hence ‘hot spots’.

And has it crossed your empty cranium that the reason why Cesium levels are recorded might be because, firstly they are a signature and secondly that they are easier to detect than other radioactive poisons?

Lastly. If you still can’t get the fact that different radiations are different, then how’s about you pop a wee lump of plutonium into your pockets? I’m sure it’ll be more convenient than carrying a bunch of bananas around and, just like bananas, I’m sure will have no effect whatsoever on your fertility. And if I’m wrong, then (assuming no previous slip-ups) a service will have been provided to humanity.

I hope you’re not suggesting that wiki pages of a political nature or with political ramifications are subject to parties with vested interests peddling lines and pushing agendas!

Take the IEAE. They are a regulatory body. An august institution. The fact that they are also tasked with promoting the civil use of nuclear technology could only possibly constitute a conflict of interest in the most cynical of individuals. Their info is untainted and objective…their pronouncements and actions above reproach.

True that your comments have been somewhat off-topic. (‘Oh – honest, just to be helpful, here’s a clearly labelled diagram on the tsunami that I’m suggesting is somehow related to something in the post) Don’t know why I tolerated you doing the subtle derailing. Anyway. Final (repeated) point on the ‘my Chernobyl dick is bigger than your Fukushima dick’ playground nonsense.

The 900PBq for Fukushima was referring to a time period of one month. The claim pertaining to Chernobyl is a sum total.

And you know what? Since a lot of those poisons bio-accumulate, I don’t really give a monkey’s flying fuck how much there is. I’m simply mightily pissed that there is any of that shit circulating through various non-organic and organic systems on this world.

However, at Tat points out – Fukusima is still happening so could well top 5200PBq.

I also suspect that the current radioactivity release stats for Fukushima ignore the radiation in the reactor “melt throughs” which have occured, using the assumption that those materials buried themselves…albeit in a completely uncontrolled and unpredictable way.

one reactor went at Chernoboyl. 3 have melted down in FD. 300 tonnes of contaminated water every day has been going unchecked into the sea since 3/11. Gunderson and Caldicott are calling this at 100x worse and I haven’t even mentioned the dangers around moving fuel rodds without automated handling technology. The plant design was GEC spec forced upon the Japanese

There is no such thing as safe low dose as it is all cummulative. Check out what your dentist does when you get an Xray. At 5-10 msv a shot You are fine with 3 or 4 max in a year however the dentist does thousands in a year.

Because I actually bothered to pay attention in science class.
The radiation leak is the equivalent to that given off by the potassium of 76 million bananas.
There is so much crap out there on the alternative media sites – this is a good overview of the actual science

[Bill]: I’m not feeling like being a tolerant bastard today. So here’s the deal. Acknowledge, privately or otherwise, that the sources used in the post link back to the considered opinion of reputable scientists and nuclear engineers – not half baked conspiracy sites – and then make only intelligent comments based on what has has been written and the actual sources used. Or get the fuck off the thread.

I also paid attention in science and history.
The banana thing is spurious and irrelevant.
Time will tell if Skeptoid is right. I hope he is or we are all in
deeper trouble than we can imagine.
I for one will not be eating tuna or sushi.

This is a sites recording stations across the USA.
If you want to interpret this site first do a bit of bg reading on the site which will explain the info showen. This is a useful tool but must be used mindfully.http://www.netc.com/

The nuclear industy is like the fossil fuel industry and tobacco industry.
Anyone for a cigarette? [contains Polonium 210]

I am neither a scientist nor nuclear expert, but news blackouts are strong confirmation of the threat.

At the time of Three Mile Island I was a dairy farmer. MSM said, “All is well.” Letters to the editors in farming magazines had horrifying stories of stillborn calves, previously unknown calf deformities, cow barns with not a single fly or insect all summer long, crop mutations, etc.

“David Suzuki at the University of Alberta, October 30, 2013 (At 2:45 in): Fukushima is the most terrifying situation I can imagine. You ask, what can we do? First of all you have got a government that is in total collusion with Tepco, they’re lying through their teeth. […] The fourth one has been so badly damaged that the fear is if there’s another quake of a 7 or above that that building will go, and then all hell breaks loose. And the probability of a 7 or above quake in the next 3 years is over 95%. […] They don’t know what to do. We need to get a group of international experts to go in with complete freedom to do what they suggest. Right now the Japanese government has too much pride to admit that. I’ve seen a paper which says that if in fact the fourth plant goes under an earthquake and those rods are exposed, it’s bye-bye Japan, and everybody on the West Coast of North America should evacuate. Now if that isn’t terrifying, I don’t know what is.”

“David Suzuki is an award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster. […] Dr. Suzuki is a geneticist […] He held a research associateship in the Biology Division of Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Lab […]

Wikipedia: Suzuki was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 2009 […] In 2004, David Suzuki was selected as the greatest living Canadian in a CBC poll.”

We most certainly should be random testing imported fish for radiation contamination here in NZ.Get onto it Shonkey- He may have to sell his pad in Hawaii in direct line of atmospheric and ocean radiation contamination.

“Fukushima Nearing Another Disaster – Humankind’s Most Dangerous Moment?”
“Paul Gunter, Beyond Nuclear, joins Thom Hartmann. The Japanese government has let the privately-owned Tokyo Electric Power Company handle the cleanup of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. And TEPCO has failed – miserably. Would things have been different if the Japanese government was in full control of the Fukushima plant?”

“Cesium was found in plankton between Hawaii and California. Plankton bio-accumulates radiation. A gram of plankton has 1,000 times as much cesium as a gram of seawater. Seaweed off the coast of California tested positive both for cesium and cobalt 60.

Canadian officials found 1,000 Becquerels (1,000 atomic disintegrations per second) in seabass. Cesium is attracted to the human heart. This has lead to heart problems and even death in athletes and race horses as far away as England.

Dr Chris Busby tested car filters in Fukushima in April of 2011. He found radiation levels were 300 times that of Chernobyl. But Fukushima was not physically covered as was Chernobyl so we are getting new releases of radiation from the buried nuclear reactors and from Spent Fuel Pools which in recent days have produced nano-particles of cesium and other elements.

If you believe the politicians, there is no way to turn Fukushima off. No workable plan has been put forward by international political and scientific leaders.

At this point, 300 tons of contaminated water is pouring into the Pacific Ocean from Fukushima every single day. A senior researcher of marine chemistry at the Japan Meteorological Agency’s Meteorological Research Institute says that “30 billion becquerels of radioactive cesium and 30 billion becquerels of radioactive strontium” are being released into the Pacific Ocean from Fukushima every single day.”

To the people claiming that Fukushima has released only a fraction of the radiation of Chernobyl, and hence is not that bad: not only is that likely to be untrue IMO, but you’ve forgotten one very simple fact:

Hundreds of young men are being forced to work in high radiation areas of fukushima that are well above limits claimed for longer periods than is safe.
Japanese govt is using slave labour to try and fix unfixable problem.

1) I’m not being lazy, but I want to see what the actual source is for the “300 tons of irradiated water per day into the Pacific” claim. It is utter bullshit – the couple of times they have had spills (including in a recent typhoon) it has been widely reported in Japan. I suspect it is a confusion with the tons of water that are transferred to holding tanks on a daily basis.

2) We had a magnitude 5 earthquake this afternoon centred just a little northeast of tokyo – if the procedure was anything like as dangerous as the description suggests, and if TEPCO are as cavalier about it as suggested, then I think we’d be cooking by now.

3) I haven’t read the material by David Suzuki but his “earthquakes in excess of 7 will bring about apocalyptic disaster at fukushima” is a little undercut by the magnitude 7.1 quake we had a week ago (centered just of the coast, right by fukushima) which was very strong here in tokyo.

Bloody sick of watching Fukushima being used as a stick to beat Japan amd a veil for a bit of cultural-we-know-better-imperialism. Claims about the heightened radiation levels in west coast US fish have the smack of bullshit.

Groundwater from the volcanic spine of Japan is flowing through the site and contacting the 3 melted down coriums and then into the sea.
The only slap of BS here is your ignorance of the situation Mr Pigman!

Further “The exact location and status of the melted cores from Units One, Two and Three remain uncertain. Millions of tons of water have been poured into their proximate location to keep them cool. Some of that contaminated water is being stored in more than a thousand leaky tanks that could not withstand a strong earthquake.” But that water is also escaping into the pacific contaminated by radioactivity.http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/11/03-7

“Bloody sick of watching Fukushima being used as a stick to beat Japan and a veil for a bit of cultural-we-know-better-imperialism.” This statement by the pigman (Pig ignorant) Is utter rubbish. Most of the concerned World is deeply sympathetic to the terrible trauma many Japanese people are suffering and have called for International Assistance to be given.

Hmm, is immediate resort to petty ad hominem a side effect of cesium accumulation in your brain? In which case I was clearly mistaken, it seems there has been a significant poisoning of New Zealand’s food chain with radioactive waste…

1) If you are indeed not being lazy and want the source/sources for the daily flow of irradiated water into the Pacific, then read the fucking links and backtrack from there. It’s not a claim resulting from any confusion.

2) and 3) You know damned fine well that the depth of a quake has got as much’ to do with it’s severity than it’s size.

And you can stick that last claim about cultural imperialism right up your arse. Who are the very best of the best in terms of nuclear know-how and engineering expertise? I’d guess….just a guess mind…that such a team would have people from most, if not all, cultural/ethnic backgrounds… including, of course, Japanese engineers and scientists.

Raised cesium levels in Tuna. GO and read the fucking link which will then link you to the actual paper.

Stuff like the Fairewinds site is such a mischaracterization of TEPCO and the Japanese government’s position that I actually can’t stand reading it. It makes my blood boil (you may think that’s just the cesium accumulation from all the delicious sashimi I’ve been eating).

TEPCO and the government do not believe it’s “mission accomplished”, and ask yourself if that were even remotely true, what is the ongoing work at Fukushima about?

Why does the government have a minister responsible for the Fukushima decommissioning?

Why is the government committing trillions upon trillions of my taxpayer yen (not that I’m complaining) to clean up work?

Why are they continuing to work on the site to find alternatives to continuing to build more storage tanks to contain irradiated water?

Why are they even working to move the fuel rods, which you seem to be opposed to?

And re: the 300 tons of water per day figure, I think its a rather eerie coincidence that “on August 20, it was announced that 300 metric tons of heavily contaminated water had leaked from a storage tank, approximately the same amount of water as one eighth (1/8) of that found in an Olympic-size swimming pool. The 300 metric tons of water was radioactive enough to be hazardous to nearby staff, and the leak was assessed as Level 3 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.”

See a 300 ton spill is actually rather newsworthy, even in Japan where you will no doubt allege there is a total media blackout (maybe you should follow the Japan Times in English online, and see how much of a blackout there is?). The idea that groundwater from the site is flowing into the pacific is one thing, but I think there is a mischievous suggestion that it’s the water that is being cycled for the purpose of cooling the reactors (and thereby becoming irradiated) that’s being discharged, when it is of course being stored onsite.

EDIT: Finally, about the 26 October 7.1 earthquake, that was at a depth of 10km, which if I’m not mistaken, like most quakes here, is much more shallow than the variety you get back home. And like I said, it was felt very strongly in Tokyo, despite being closer to Fukushima.

I’ve seen this in a few places:
“If a fuel rod snaps, the Fukishima site would have to be evacuated while the snapped rod vented radioactive gases into the air. And if one contacted the air, then the zirconium alloy coating would spontaneously combust. And since water reacts with burning zirconium and all of the fuel rods are housed in water, it’s well within the realms of possibility that an unquenchable fire feeding off the radioactive fuel rods could spark at Fukushima.”

I’d like to point out:
1. Solid zirconium is very stable, and basically does not burn. Zirconium powder, on the other hand, is spontaneously combustible in air at room temperature. The zirconium alloy coating is not powder applied to the spent fuel like a crumbed lamb chop.
2. Zirconium reacts with water to produce hydrogen gas, which is very explosive when mixed with air. This is what people have been referring to as a “zirconium cladding fire.” It happens very slowly at less than 900C and happened at Three Mile Island and near the beginning at Fukushima. Whether it will happen again depends on whether the spent fuel rods can heat to at least 900C while surrounded by steam.
3. There has been talk of the jagged ends of a broken zirconium tube burning like the powder. This has been on blogs and I have seen no evidence of experiments to verify this. I have seen plenty of reports of studies of the powder burning and the solid metal not burning.
4. In my view, there is no danger of a nuclear explosion at Fukushima. One of the reasons zirconium is used for storage is that it does not moderate neutrons, and nuclear fission explosions require slow, moderated neutrons. They also require a few other things.
5. I wouldn’t eat seafood from the Pacific near Japan. If I didn’t eat something from the American coast, it would not be because it was too radioactive.
6. I do not believe that nuclear power is a reasonable answer to our energy needs.
7. I am a scientist. To some of you here, that will automatically mean that I am making stuff up and work for the military industrial complex. That is your problem. I am the wrong sort of doctor to help you.

Thanks Murray, and particularly agree with “6. I do not believe that nuclear power is a reasonable answer to our energy needs”, I feel like Fukushima alarmists are very quick to lash out and characterize anyone who pours cold water (ba-doom-tish) on their claims.

johnm – what have I downplayed? Please take the opportunity to be specific rather than just throwing out such a broad and meaningless charge. I thought I was entering a discussion, not volunteering as the victim in a Stalinist purge.

On the question of zirconium – my source was Arnie Gunderson (“Arnie Gundersen has more than 40-years of nuclear power engineering experience.(…) was a licensed reactor operator, and is a former nuclear industry senior vice president. During his nuclear power industry career, Arnie also managed and coordinated projects at 70-nuclear power plants in the US”).

Meanwhile,I wrote that there could be a fire. I didn’t mention any possibility of explosions. You say the temp would have to reach 900 degrees. Well, those fuel rods were incredibly hot. They had been removed from the core containment for servicing and (as I understand it) so that spent ones (the hottest – most radioactive of all) could be swapped out. After two years, are they capable of combusting the zirconium coating on the rods? Plenty of nuclear scientists and engineers believe so and it is, presumably, partly why they have sent an open letter to the UN imploring them to get an international team that is independent of the Japanese government, TEPCO and the IEAE.

I’ve been trying to get reliable information on how hot the rods are and how hot they could get. It’s not easy. If they can get to 900C or more, with steam in the vicinity, a tricky situation suddenly becomes much worse.

I certainly think an international team should be working on this. TEPCO has shown itself totally incapable and incompetent.

Pigman – 300 tonnes of water a day into the ocean is quite believable. In terms of volume, it’s less than an olympic sized swimming pool, and is miniscule compared to the amount of water in Tokyo Bay, let alone the Pacific. One cubic metre of water weighs one tonne. What damage it can do depends on the concentration of radioactive material in it. With this, milligrams rather than tonnes can do real damage to a person.

thank you for the heads up 🙂
I have heard the coming fuel pool clean up likened to the cuban miossile crisis should it go wrong. Would you agree? I wouldn’t want to be anywhere north of the Equator right now.

by The Spark Before taking office, Barack Obama pledged to wind down the war in Iraq and redouble efforts to defeat the insurgency in Afghanistan. “As president, I will make the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban the top ...

Kia ora ano, Laurie Penny I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ for everything you do… for your activism, writing and the empathy you sew into every piece you have ever penned. I’ve just had a hard day of reading ...

The lesson from the demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) should have been that it is time to re-think this type of so-called trade agreement. But despite warnings from internationally-recognised experts, there are more secretive “trade” negotiations happening this ...

2016… it’s felt like living in a history book at times. The spate of iconic celebrity deaths. The earthquakes. And of course, the disruptive politics of Brexit, Donald Trump, and now for New Zealanders, the unexpected resignation of our Prime ...

PICTURED: Bill English regales media with tales of a “pretty crazy” night in. Incoming Prime Minister Bill English celebrated his ascension to the highest office in the land last night by cheekily knocking back twice the amount of Listerine he ...

This year I have been focused on getting a better deal for kids and families with learning needs such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, and autism spectrum. We had a Select Committee inquiry into the issues faced, but the Government was too ...

The Greens are calling for cannabis to be legalised for recreational and medical use:The Green Party say it will legalise cannabis if it forms a government next year. Under its proposal, people would be able to legally grow and possess ...

One of the long-term trends in New Zealand welfare policy, amplified under National, has for WINZ to become ever crueller and more vicious. Unsurprisingly, its driving people to suicide:Monthly quotas were imposed at the Ministry of Social Development to prosecute ...

When the tales of music are written, they rarely include the people who aren't in the band, but make it all possible. So I'm delighted to see that Audioculture has this week published an article on my old friend Doug ...

November's 7.8 magnitude earthquake has damaged much of State Highway 1, cutting small communities off from the world. We took a journey down the empty highway to see the damage for ourselves - and see what's become of Kaikoura's iconic cryafish ...

The new bus network is the right approach but it will only work if implemented well. So far there are some positive looking numbers. Train boardings at Otahuhu and Manukau have increased, with Otahuhu doubling over the first three weeks ...

Principles? Seriously? New Zealanders, as a people, are not much given to following theories of any kind. If we subscribe to any philosophy at all it is the philosophy of pragmatism. If a problem can be fixed by using ...

The legendary music venue has been sold. We asked some of its most devoted punters to look back on their best and craziest Kings Arms experiences. The D4 perform at The Kings Arms, August 2002 Photo: Mark Roach/AudioCulture ...

How bad are Britain's police? Clint Rickards bad:Hundreds of police officers are being accused of sexually abusing victims and suspects in what a senior police watchdog has called “the most serious corruption issue facing the service”. Forces across England and ...

In an earlier post today, I've looked at what is undoubtedly the headline of the Green Party's new drug and alcohol policy: clear proposals for reform on both medical cannabis and cannabis law in general. But there's more there, including ...

The New Zealand Green Party today publishes a new drug and alcohol policy that, among other things, would legalise the possession and cultivation of cannabis for personal use. It also offers a robust take on medical cannabis that could be ...

The government had confirmed it is very happy with the NCEA results from its beloved charter schools. This follows concerns being raised about the different methodology being used to calculate pass rates in the privately run but publicly funded cash ...

David Shearer, he’s not your usual danger junkie. You’d get Colin Firth to play him, on a good day, or maybe Steve Carroll. Just not Bruce Willis. And yet it turns out Hollywood isn’t like life after all: Shearer has ...

Next week Auckland Transport hold their final board meeting for the year. Coming hot on the heels of the November one there’s not a lot of new information available in the currently available reports but there are a few important ...

Climate scientists have done a great job winning the scientific arguments about climate change. To be clear about what I mean, we have done a very good job investigating whether or not the Earth’s climate is changing (it is), what ...

Incoming Prime Minister Bill English is feeling little pressure about the upcoming election, knowing that he can’t possibly do worse than last time. The 20.9% of New Zealanders that voted for Bill English to be Prime Minister in 2002 are ...

As some of you know, I act for Margaret Harkema, a dog and horse breeder in Hastings. You may also have seen the apology broadcast by TV3 at about 7pm last night, and repeated tonight. If you missed it, you ...

I remember talking at a do with a Labour apparatchik in December 2011. The party had a new leader and there was a sense of excitement. "We can get him on the cover of NZ Surfer. When's the last time Labour ...

In March 2015, police surrounded Gregory McPeake in his car in a Napier carpark. Despite McPeake being contained and able to be arrested at leisure, they proceeded to smash the windows of the car, set police dogs on him, and ...

John Key's right-hand man has the numbers. Bill English will likely become the country’s next prime minister, with 30 National MPs - including outgoing PM John Key - publicly backing him ahead of a vote on Monday. As the ...

Recently I have been reading the new NACTO Global Street Design Guide, in it is this great graph that illustrates the power of speed & it’s effect on the risk of pedestrian death after impact. Speed & Fatality % As ...

Earlier this week I posed some questions to Finance Minister Bill English about his support for the government’s plan to spend a billion dollars on a new prison. I was pretty disappointed in his answers, all of which flew in the face of his own ...

John Key's strategy for winning three elections was simple: do nothing. Continue all of Labour's policies (which he had denounced as "socialism" while in opposition) while not meaningfully changing them (or maybe eroding them slowly). It was unpopular on the ...

Whaddya Reckon? With everything that's going on in politics at the moment, you might think that the NZ Herald's deputy-political editor would be extremely cautious about rushing into print with a year-old story, based on nothing more than speculation, posted ...

I took the opportunity to question the Reserve Bank Governor, Graeme Wheeler, about New Zealand’s lack of deposit protection in front of the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee in Parliament yesterday. Why does the Reserve Bank continue to oppose protecting ...

8 December 2016 Teachers in public schools are not surprised to hear that the success rates being touted by charter schools are not true at all.PPTA president Angela Roberts says, “Charter schools are a bad idea, for a multitude of ...

The new community water fluoridation legislation is now on the way in the New Zealand parliament. The Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Bill was introduced on Tuesday and the parliamentary health committee has invited submissions. It’s worth watching the videos of ...

Well, friends, today was PISA day. The day when all media outlets around the world breathlessly pronounce their education system is either “plummeting” down the tables, or, through some miraculous miracle, soaring to new educational heights. Three years ago I ...

Auckland’s city centre is currently undergoing change on scale possibly never seen before and nowhere more so than around Albert St with the construction of the City Rail Link underway. Streets have been narrowed or in some places cut off completely. ...

At a guess, many of you reading this post are already making good personal choices to help mitigate climate change. Some of you would perhaps like to do more. So, here are some suggestions where you can get actively involved ...

Apparently, McDonald’s hamburgers are the result of the best technology that food and taste engineers can provide. All ingredients and processing events are managed to within an inch – maybe less – of their lives. The consumable item is the culmination ...

So…. we’re 72 hours into this journey into deep space after dropping the rocket that took us out of earth orbit (adieu, John Key) and we’re taking stock of who’s on the flight deck, and whether any warps in the ...

Uh oh! Has John Key given nearly enough thought to hiding his browsing habits from his successors? Whoops! John Key might be regretting this one. If his resignation as leader of New Zealand seemed to be going too smoothly, something’s ...

Journalists suspect Jonathan Coleman has been hanging around at the opposite end of the hallway just to waste their time. New Zealanders around the country are savouring the chance this week to partake in one of the great joys of ...

by Michael Roberts Mark Carney is the governor of the Bank of England. Formerly the head of the central Bank of Canada, some years ago he was headhunted to take over at the BoE on a huge salary and expenses. ...

The Great Northern Forest has many names. Scientists see The Great Northern Forest as the boreal forest ecosystem - the global coniferous forest blanketing the northern hemisphere. The Russians traditionally call it “Taiga”. If you could look at the planet ...

The diversity of nature is essential to ensure our planet remains habitable. That is why we need to stand up to all those who endanger the global web of life – those who plunder the Commons for private gain.Back in ...

The following is extracted from a longer article about political polarisation globally, written by Ben Hillier, which appears in Red Flag, the paper of Australia’s largest Marxist current (Socialist Alternative), here. It is beyond reasonable doubt, for anyone who cares to ...

Today is unexpectedly a Member's Day, presumably because next week the House wil be in urgency for the end-of-year wash-up, or MP's will all be at some boozy party or something. First up is David Bennett's Private International Law (Choice ...

Thank you, water protectors.Yesterday, the Obama administration and the Army Corps of Engineers denied Dakota Access Pipeline builder Energy Transfer Partners the final permit it needs to complete the pipeline. This is a monumental victory for Indigenous rights and a ...

Back in June I wrote a post about the Ombudsman's pretty damning report on the State Services Commission (SSC) Inquiry into leaked MFAT documents, and in particular the way that this Inquiry treated a MFAT employee, Mr Derek Leask.read more ...

While AT have been proposing some rubbish lately with Mt Albert and some of their cycleway projects, there has been some good news too on Quay St. Firstly, on Sunday an important milestone was reached with the cycleway counter tipping over ...

Back in 2012, after a campaign of leaks about its proposals to restructure MFAT, National announced an inquiry. Naturally, they appointed their go-to girl Paula Rebstock to investigate. And when she reported, it turned out to be a total hatchet ...

We check their records on abortion, marriage equality, weed, prostitution and euthanasia. Deputy Prime Minister Bill English, Police Minister Judith Collins and Health Minister Jonathan Coleman have all put their names in the hat to become our next PM. We ...

Its the dead of winter in the Arctic. And the ice cap is still melting:Both the Arctic and Antarctic experienced record lows in sea ice extent in November, with scientists astonished to see Arctic ice actually retreating at a time ...

My friend's mum died this week. Since he told me, I've had the strongest memory of walking into her house a few years back and being hit with the smell of soup on the stove top. That smell that only ...

Native Son: One of the reasons Wood was able to generate such spectacular support from Mt Roskill voters is because he is one of them. He and his young family have lived in the electorate for 13 years. During that ...

Dear Russell, New Zealand's Archive of Film, Television and Sound, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision is currently considering a proposal to close its offices in Auckland and Christchurch and centralise all its activity in the Wellington region. This includes moving ...

I had coffee with Rob Hosking last Friday, and noted down one of his comments in my diary then forgot about it until I went to check something else today: Coffee w/ Rob Hosking. Asked him about mood at Parliament. ...

The Motu Institute recently published new research into the urban productivity premium in New Zealand, or the degree to which firms and workers in big cities tend to produce more and earn higher wages. This is an essential issue for ...

Secrecy shrouds this new Major Motion Picture Comedy, based in New Zealand, but with World Wide Exposure! “Gigantic Clown” John Key The original star of this Comedy was famous Comedian/Clown, John Key. But he has ...

In October 2014 New Zealand was preparing for its two-year term on the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, Prime Minister John Key was making an unconvincing case for sending soldiers to Iraq in a training capacity to assist with the fight ...

Watch out John Key: these two did even better, staying wealthy their whole lives! John Key doesn’t just leave behind the legacy of New Zealand’s most popular Prime Minister; he also leaves the legacy of a boy who grew up ...

In the depths of Upper Hutt, no-one can hear the screams. Lurking in a lock-up in deepest Upper Hutt is The All Seeing Hand, a turntable/throat-singing/double-kick-drumming trio whose sound reflects the industrial wasteland around them. "Quarry Metals" reads ...

The SIS and GCSB's annual reports were released today. The bad news: the trend of the past few years of a relentless expansion of spying has continued. The GCSB was granted 15 new intelligence warrants allowing individualised spying in 2016, ...

Did you want to know something about how John Key acted as Prime Minister? Which bloggers he briefed, or which journalists he had on speed dial, for example? Sorry, you're now shit out of luck. Key is subject to the ...

Being a media trainer is a bit like being a singing teacher.You have to have a very good ear. It’s not merely about being able to correct glaring examples of poor pronunciation, diction or tone. John Key’s tendency to ...

Today's reminder that Fiji is not a democracy: A Canadian woman living in Fiji appeared before a Parliamentary Select Committee and criticised government policy. So the government deported her:A Canadian woman living in Fiji has been forcibly deported just hours ...

Last week the Productivity Commission put out a report about how to grow “weak labour productivity”. These views are being criticised as being straight out of the 1980s. What is a real problem is that we have a problem of ...

The Green Party has campaigned for several years for mandatory palm oil labeling to give consumers choice. Most consumers do not want to support a palm oil industry that is destroying tropical rainforests and contributing to dangerous climate change emissions. ...

Share this:

Related

The lesson from the demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) should have been that it is time to re-think this type of so-called trade agreement. But despite warnings from internationally-recognised experts, there are more secretive “trade” negotiations happening this ...

This year I have been focused on getting a better deal for kids and families with learning needs such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, and autism spectrum. We had a Select Committee inquiry into the issues faced, but the Government was too ...

The latest Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) provides further evidence that the economy that the National Government and Bill English have is sitting on shifting sands and leaves many people behind, Labour’s Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson says today. ...

Earlier this week I posed some questions to Finance Minister Bill English about his support for the government’s plan to spend a billion dollars on a new prison. I was pretty disappointed in his answers, all of which flew in the face of his own ...

The Government is dragging its feet while working New Zealanders are still missing up to $2.3 billion collectively owed to them through underpaid holiday pay entitlements, Labour’s Economic Development spokesperson David Clark says. “The cover was blown on this issue ...

I took the opportunity to question the Reserve Bank Governor, Graeme Wheeler, about New Zealand’s lack of deposit protection in front of the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee in Parliament yesterday. Why does the Reserve Bank continue to oppose protecting ...

“There has been a high degree of media interest in New Zealand about a possible post with the United Nations. “My name has been proposed to the United Nations Secretary General to be his Special Representative in South Sudan. ...

Mt Albert MP David Shearer is being proposed for a demanding and exciting role heading the United Nations peacekeeping force in South Sudan, says Labour Leader Andrew Little. “David has kept me fully informed about this opportunity and we are ...

The Minister of Education needs to show some leadership and secure the future of two not-for-profit early childhood education centres that could be faced with closure as the land they sit on is up for sale, Grant Robertson Labour MP ...

NCEA results for charter schools have been massively overstated with documents revealing many students leaving school without basic NCEA level two qualifications despite this being a main educational target for the Government, says Labour Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins. “Documents obtained ...

The Minister of Social Development should immediately implement safer work practices to ensure tragedies such as the Ashburton killings don’t happen again, says Labour’s Social Development spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni. ...

Comments made by the Māori Party leadership in the wake of John Key’s surprise resignation make one thing clear: a vote for them is a vote for a fourth term National Government, and the increasing inequality and poverty for Māori ...

The public rightly puts much of the blame for the housing bubble at the feet of foreign speculators, and the next Prime Minister must listen to their concerns, says Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford. ...

The continuing fall in Kiwi kids’ performance in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study shows the damage being inflicted by National’s cuts to education and one-size-fits-all approach, says Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins. “For years, National has ...

Child protection has taken a massive step backwards today with the Government passing a Bill that will give significant powers to unspecified ‘professionals’ or contract holders, says Labour’s Acting Children’s spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni. ...

Last week the Productivity Commission put out a report about how to grow “weak labour productivity”. These views are being criticised as being straight out of the 1980s. What is a real problem is that we have a problem of ...

The Green Party has campaigned for several years for mandatory palm oil labeling to give consumers choice. Most consumers do not want to support a palm oil industry that is destroying tropical rainforests and contributing to dangerous climate change emissions. ...

Cases of syphilis are increasing in Auckland. You read that right, syphilis! RNZ reported today that rates of syphilis have increased by 71 percent (between 2013-2015). We have known about the increase in syphilis figures for a while, but nothing ...

The charade of this Government’s sound economic management is unraveling. Misleading GDP figures, pumped up by property speculation and high immigration, have given the impression that all is well, masking our continued productivity decline compared to OECD countries. In fact, ...

Labour Party Leader Andrew Little has acknowledged John Key’s contribution to Government. “John Key has served New Zealand generously and with dedication. Although we may have had our policy differences over the years, I respect the Prime Minister’s decision to ...

The victory of Labour’s newest MP, Michael Wood, in Mt Roskill is the result of a well-organised campaign run with honesty and integrity, says Labour Leader Andrew Little. “I congratulate Michael Wood on his great victory. He will be a ...

Apartment builder Ockham Residential has become the latest voice to call for the government to build affordable homes for Kiwi families to buy, says Labour’s housing spokesperson Phil Twyford. “Helen O'Sullivan of Ockham has now joined prominent businesspeople like EMA ...

The death of Fidel Castro is a huge historical moment for the older generation who grew up with the toppling of Batista, the Bay of Pigs debacle, the death of Che Guevara and the US blockade against Cuba. For younger ...

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has more than halved the number of fisheries observers in the East Coast North Island snapper trawl fishery (SNA1). This reduction in observer days, combined with major failures in an unproven and controversial video ...

TheMāori Land Court, hailed as an “exemplar” by the Ministry of Justice chief executive and Secretary, Andrew Bridgman is under siege by the Government through Māori land reforms and a Ministry restructure, says Labour’s Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri. ...

When approximately 60 per cent of children in state care are Māori processes need to change in favour of whānau, hapū and iwi solutions, said Labour’s Whānau Ora spokesperson Nanaia Mahuta. “Widespread concern about Government reforms of Child Youth and ...

The statistics for hip and knee electives under this Government make depressing reading, says Labour’s Health spokesperson Annette King. “Under the last Labour Government we achieved a 91 per cent growth in hip and knee elective surgery. Sadly under this ...

No amount of spin from Hekia Parata can hide the fact that per-child funding for early childhood education has been steadily decreasing under the National government, Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins says. “In the 2009/10 year early childhood services received ...

35% of New Zealanders now live in places where the average house costs over a million dollars, and it’s killing the Kiwi dream of owning your own place, says Labour’s housing spokesperson Phil Twyford. Latest QV stats show that Queenstown ...

The First Reading in Parliament today of his Our Work, Our Future Bill is a chance for political parties to ensure the government buys Kiwi-made more often and backs Kiwi jobs, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little. The reading ...

Solid Energy is showing no moral spine and should not have any legal right to block re-entry into the Pike River drift, says Damien O’Connor MP for West Coast-Tasman. “Todays failed meeting with representatives from the state owned company is ...

A briefing to the Minister of Education reveals 20,000 at-risk students can’t be found, undermining claims by Hekia Parata that a new funding model would ensure additional funding reached students identified as at-risk, says Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins. ...

The Treasury has wasted $10 million in two years on the National Government's flawed state house sell off programme, including nearly $5.5 million on consultants, says Labour Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson. "New Zealand needs more state housing than ever, with ...

Yesterday, the Minister for Trade misused economic data in order to try to make the case for more so-called ‘trade agreements’ like the TPPA which are actually deregulatory straitjackets in disguise. In welcoming a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade ...

Wages have plummeted for people with skilled migrant visas working in low-skilled occupations, driving down wages for workers in a number of industries, says Labour’s Immigration Spokesperson Iain Lees-Galloway. “Documents acquired by Labour under the Official Information Act reveal that ...

The Government's failure to act on recommendations from Judge Henwood, based on years of work by the Confidential Listening and Assistance Service (CLAS) will further undermine any faith victims may have put into the process, says Labour’s Children’s Spokesperson Jacinda ...

National’s failure to deal with the housing crisis in New Zealand is once again being exposed by the Reserve Bank today, in a scathing assessment of the Government’s response, says Labour Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson “Governor Wheeler is clearly worried ...

On Friday, the Minister for Food Safety, along with her Australian colleagues finally looked at the issue of mandatory labelling of palm oil. We’ve been calling for mandatory labelling for years and we were hoping that the Ministers would agree ...

The ineffectiveness of the National Government’s approach to schooling has been highlighted by the latest Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) report released overnight, Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins says. ...

This week Parliament will select another members’ bill from the cookie tin (I kid you not, it really is a cookie tin) and I’ve just launched a new bill I’m hoping will get pulled – to help people get into ...

I want to end homelessness and ensure that everyone has a warm, safe, dry home. This National Government has let down New Zealanders, especially the thousands of New Zealanders who are struggling with something so basic and important as housing. ...

Kiwis affected by earthquakes might not get a fair deal if the Government pushes ahead with secret plans to let private insurers take over the assessment of claims, says Labour’s Canterbury spokesperson Megan Woods. “Under questioning from Labour the Government ...

The Prime Minister’s fixation with tax cuts, despite a failure to pay down any debt and growing pressure on public services is the real ‘load of nonsense’, says Labour Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson. “We’re getting mixed messages from National. John ...

Last week we were very concerned to hear that an Auckland imam, Dr Anwar Sahib, had been preaching divisive and derogatory messages about Jewish people and women during his sermons. It was a disturbing incident coming at the end of ...

Tairāwhiti says yes to a clean environment for our mokopuna today and for generations to come. Tairāwhiti are have a responsibility to uphold their mana motuhake over their land and their peoples and are calling on the Government to honour ...

Today the Greens have unveiled a comprehensive set of initiatives around the politically fraught policy area of drug law and reform, showing Moral courage on the issue of Medical Cannabis that has been lacking in parliament. ...

Friday 9 December marks International Anti-Corruption Day. This was established after the passage of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in October 2003 and came into being because of the UN's concerns over the huge dangers corruption poses ...

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling out those who are pushing for the implementation of a sugary drink tax as a ‘post-truth virtue signalling’ citing evidence that many of the claims being made about sugar taxes are demonstrably wrong. ...

“The current Government’s priorities for next year’s Budget say nothing about improving public services, yet deteriorating public services hurt working people as much as a pay cut,” says CTU Economist, Bill Rosenberg. ...

Corrections releases COTA reports To be attributed to Chief Custodial Officer Neil Beales: The United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture establishes an international inspection system for places of detention. The Ombudsmen has responsibility ...

I have today apologised to Mr Derek Leask and Mr Nigel Fyfe for issues identified by the Ombudsman relating to the Investigation into the Possible Unauthorised Disclosure of Information Relating to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and ...

I need to be clear that while the Ombudsman identified issues with fairness and process in the investigation and release of the final report, these concerns relate to one section of a wider report. ...

The union representing more than 900 ambulance officers says its members are pleased that St John has announced to staff it will begin interpreting the meal break provision differently, but they’re renewing their calls for more staff to help relieve ...

State Housing Action Network 7 December 2016 Media release: Overseas investors not welcome to buy Christchurch state houses The news that Housing New Zealand is holding an “invite-only” seminar in Sydney next week for potential buyers of state houses ...

The importance of good risk assessment and monitoring of offenders carrying out community work has been highlighted in today’s sentencing of the Corrections Department under the Health and Safety in Employment Act. ...

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi supports the decision by the Māori Women’s Welfare League to take a Treaty of Waitangi claim calling for a halt to the reforms to Child Youth and Family and shares the ...

Former New Zealand High Commissioner in London Derek Leask welcomes the formal decision by the State Services Commission (SSC) to accept the Ombudsman’s findings and recommendations on the SSC’s flawed 2012-13 Inquiry into the leaking of MFAT papers. ...

The new Board for Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) has been elected. The Board supersedes the Rural Women New Zealand National Council under new Rules and Bylaws ratified by the RWNZ membership at National Conference in 2015. ...

The Autistic Collective wholly supports the recent decision of the government to ban the practise of seclusion in schools. We also agree with statements made by Altogether Autism and the Human Rights Commission on the practise. ...

The New Zealand Government's proposal to take away legal responsibility for water fluoridation from local councils and give it to the District Health Boards could prove to be an exercise in futility. ...

Chief District Court Judge Jan Marie Doogue has entered a conviction against the Ministry of Social Development on a charge of failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its employees. Judge Doogue declined an MSD application ...

The Public Service is working through the implications of the judgement and sentence in the prosecution of the Ministry of Social Development by WorkSafe New Zealand following the shootings in the Ashburton Work and Income Office in 2014. ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzBy Dr Alexandra Wake in Melbourne As a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Kirakira in the Solomon Islands early today, triggering a tsunami warning across the Pacific, many residents of the country would have ...

We are always comparing ourselves to other parents, but comparing yourself to animals probably isn’t always a good idea. Thom Adams explains why. Mother hens, tiger mums, pangolin dads… as parents, we do have a habit of comparing ourselves with ...

Every Friday, ‘The Album Cycle’ reviews a handful of new releases.ALBUM OF THE WEEKChildish Gambino – Awaken, My LoveGive it a first listen and you’d be forgiven for thinking Awaken, My Love! wasn’t a Childish Gambino record ...

Tara Ward does the unthinkable, and binge-watches 22 episodes of guinea pig dates on TVNZ Ondemand. It’s not often you enjoy a guinea pig’s quest for true love. Hardly ever, in fact. So when the televisual universe vomits up a ...

Henry Oliver tries to go deep with Los Angeles rapper Vince Staples, fails, and asks him about basketball and cartoons instead.Vince Staples is young, very skilled and very, very chill. He raps fast, but talks slow. His records are ...

As the country counts down to the Joseph Parker vs Andy Ruiz WBO world heavyweight championship fight, The Spinoff presents FIGHT WEEK, an inside look at the life and career of Joseph Parker. Today we’re republishing ‘Inside Team Parker’, the ...

With summer upon us, there is no better time to shut all the sunlight out of your room, pull a blanket over your head and watch TV until your eyes hurt. We assemble the best shows on Lightbox that you ...

Superstar of breakfast radio, All Black captain and owner of a world-class duck face, John Key is one hell of a hard act to follow. But is the PM-designate really that boring? Toby Manhire crushes forever the Dull Bill English ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzPacific countries on tsunami alert following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake off Solomon Islands. Image: USGS A tsunami warning has been issued for several Pacific countries – including Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu ...

He wants to be a tax-raising and lowering, eat-the-rich Trump-but-not-like-that of the political centre. Duncan Greive heads to Parnell for the Gareth Morgan party’s very odd first policy launch. “Make New Zealand fair again,” says Gareth Morgan, more than once ...

New verse by Dunedin writer Emma Neale.Tag From the tangle of trees by the Warrender Street steps near where city council crews have been deleting the fuck-cunts and dick pics sprayed on the path, sharper than the ...

‘Business is Boring’ is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and ...

John Key was first elected Prime Minister in 2008. What was New Zealand like when the era of radio banter, ponytail pulling, and bad singing was just beginning? Having trouble viewing the quiz? Take it here. ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzFear and Desperation: Refugees and Migrants Pour into Greece. Prizewinning footage shot in October 2015 – March 2016, Greece. Video: Rory Peck Awards Will Vassilopoulos, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) stringer since 2011, has won the Rory Peck ...

If we were able to speak to the people we were when we first became parents, what would we say? Kiri Speirs reaches back through the years to speak to the mum she was to her beloved daughter Zoe.Dear ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzOPINION:By Peter S. Kinjap in Port Moresby Many current Papua New Guinean parliamentarians are highly respected individuals in their own areas – successful in business, education or public service. With such backgrounds, they routinely attract great ...

Novelist Graeme Lay bids a belated farewell to Auckland’s least glamorous but most useful shopping centre. It was one of the ugliest buildings in Auckland’s central business district, in a part of town where there was tough competition for that ...

The latest installment of Final Fantasy has been released from its cage into the arms of millions of fans. Resident Fantas-ites(?) Eugenia Woo and Matthew Codd settled around the old Skype and discussed what worked, what didn’t and why the ...

In the face of everything from anecdote posing as evidence to bias peddlers to outright quackery, the best riposte is to champion good science. But how? Dr Jessica Berentson-Shaw offers seven tips. Science and evidence gets a pretty bad ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzA car is half buried under the remains of a collapsed house in Pidie Jaya regency, Aceh, on yesterday after an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale hit the northeastern part of the province. Image: ...

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nzRappler’s Evening wRap on President Duterte and the death penalty.By Mara Cepeda in Manila A proposed measure seeking to reimpose the death penalty in the Philippines has decisively passed the House committee level. Voting 12-6-1, the ...

All week this week we recommend the very best, A-grade quality, guaranteed good books for Christmas. Today: The Shops, by Steve Braunias and Peter Black. Why do photographers talk so much? The best thing about working with Wellington photographer Peter ...

An in-depth Spinoff investigation reveals exactly who invented What Now gunge and unravels the mystery of the secret recipe. Calum Henderson reports. A traditional What Now gunging. (Photo: YouTube – ‘What Now’s Best Gunge!’) “I was gunged while wearing a ...

A byelection is likely in Mt Albert should David Shearer’s South Sudan challenge be confirmed, signalling the departure of the last ex-leader, and leaving the question hanging: did Labour err in knifing him? “Former leaders” are a mixed blessing for ...